University of Notre Dame
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

1. The Center for Sustainable Energy has a longstanding program which accepts applications for funding from faculty and graduate students to develop new courses or to enhance existing courses to include energy-related topics and issues. Many of these courses count towards the Energy Studies minor, which is a sustainability-inclusive program. Recently added courses address the link between energy and air quality, established energy audit partnerships with the city of South Bend, and addressed business ethics in the energy industry.

2. The Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns funds a variety of community-engaged coursework in South Bend and other localities with ties to the Center. Many of these recently funded projects, including lead abatement, immersions to Appalachia, cover crop planting, and local habitat assessment, have been sustainability inclusive. Faculty can apply for research support, seed funding for new courses, and access best-practice trainings through the Center.

https://socialconcerns.nd.edu/community-engagement#:~:text=Course%20Development%20Grants%20up%20to,courses%20through%20community%2Dbased%20learning.

3. The director of the Sustainability Minor conducts annual Sustainability Across the Curriculum workshops. Each year, applications for sustainability course development grants open at the conclusion of this workshop, and participating faculty have created a Sustainability Faculty Network focused on providing peer support to others wishing to offer new sustainability courses.

1. Faculty receive funding for developing courses.
2. Courses funded through these programs are advertised heavily through the Office of Sustainability and the funding bodies, increasing campus awareness.
3. Depending on the award given, funded projects are included in annual faculty recognition dinners.
4. Grants for teaching, research, and service are available - which expands the eligible applicants beyond traditional faculty lines
5. Course development stipends are flexible; if a department cannot add a full new course, the panel may fund a project which adds a sustainability unit to an existing course.
5. Through a special initiative in the Provost's office in Fall 2021, 'Moment to see, Courage to Act', sustainability-affiliated faculty submitted ideas for expanding sustainability education on campus. These proposals are currently under internal review, but may result in larger resource availability moving forward.
6. Academic staff and faculty are added to the larger Sustainability Faculty Network, improving cross-campus communication and collaboration over time.

As Notre Dame does not have a centralized academic sustainability program, faculty are typically affiliated with one or multiple of the following divisions. Updated lists of affiliated sustainability faculty can be found at these links:

https://environmentalchange.nd.edu/about/affiliated-faculty/

https://sustainabilitystudies.nd.edu/faculty/

https://energy.nd.edu/about/affiliated-faculty/?name=&area=&id=